French destroyer Pique

Pique was one of four s built for the French Navy around the beginning of the 20th century. During the First World War, the ship saw service in the Mediterranean Sea and survived the war to be stricken from the naval register on 28 January 1921.

Design and description

The Framées used the same hull design as the preceding, but had a more powerful propulsion plant. The ships had an overall length of, a beam of, and a maximum draft of. They displaced at normal load. They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four Normand boilers. The engines were designed to produce a total of to give the ships a speed of. During her sea trials on 1 February 1901, Pique only reached from, the only ship of her class that failed to reach her designed speed. The ships carried enough coal to give them a range of at. Their complement consisted of 4 officers and 57 enlisted men.
The Framée-class ships were armed with a single gun forward of the bridge and six [QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|] Hotchkiss guns, three on each broadside. They were fitted with two single rotating torpedo tubes, one between the funnels and the other on the stern.

Construction and career

Pique was ordered from Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée on 27 October 1897 and the ship was laid down in October at its shipyard in Le Havre-Granville. She was launched on 31 March 1900 and conducted her trials beginning in July 1900. They were not finished until May 1901 and Pique was commissioned that same month. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron, but was transferred to the Local Defense Force in French Algeria in June 1903. She was reduced to reserve in 1909–1910 and had been transferred to Bizerte, French Tunisia, in March 1910.